A secret boss included towards the endgame of any title can be an impressive addition that can both catch players off guard and reward them with an unexpected fight. This is more than the case for Bloodborne, which not only includes one of FromSoftware's best bosses to cap off the game, but also an incredible reward for thoroughly exploring the expansive city of Yharnam.
The secret boss that is the star of two of the three endings in Bloodborne is the Moon Presence, who can make an appearance at the end of the game and end everything before the fight itself. However, in both the presentation and the execution of first seeing and fighting the Moon Presence, it succeeds in ways that FromSoftware still hasn't been able to improve on three games and seven years later.
Introduction to the Moon Presence
Most players running through Bloodborne blind will likely never expect to find something like the Moon Presence at the end of the game, let alone be prepared to actually fight the boss. First, this requires players to choose to fight Bloodborne's first hunter Gehrman before even being able to see the Moon Presence at all, a choice that extends the game for one extra boss fight already. Beyond getting past the original fight, players also need to have consumed the three umbilical cord items that can be found throughout Yharnam in order to access the ending where the Moon Presence goes from plot device to boss.
Regardless of whether the player is ready to fight the Moon Presence or not, it's impressive to see the boss descend from above right after beating the tough-as-nails Gehrman. Even without having found the umbilical cords, the idea that the fight isn't over after likely burning through a full stack of blood vials is Bloodborne at its most terrifying. It is an imposing presence, finally showing itself for having pulled the strings on everything the player has done so far, now coming to either kill the hunter or force them to bend to its will.
Fighting the Moon Presence
The fight against the Moon Presence itself can be seen as easy to a degree, especially when compared to bosses like Bloodborne's Lady Maria, Ebrietas, or even Gehrman. This isn't the most aggressive boss in Bloodborne, as it spends much of its time taking its distance before quickly launching forward with a series of swipes to claw at the player. However, by the time players come across this fight, they've already survived through most of the game and should have a handle on the complexity of combat. As a result, the simple fight can easily be taken down in a single run after the player has already been running at full throttle to make it through Gehrman.
That being said, just because Moon Presence isn't the most difficult fight doesn't necessarily mean that it can't completely end the fight in a second if it decides to. While it isn't quite the instant win button that a more recent FromSoftware boss like Elden Ring's Malenia has with Waterfowl Dance, the Moon Presence can combo the player to death with Gaze of the Moon and its own Numbing Mist. Suppressing the ability to use blood vials and instantly dropping the player to a single hit-point creates a tense moment where the fight could easily end from one poorly-timed dodge.
The Legacy of the Moon Presence
Since Bloodborne introduced the Moon Presence as a secret boss that would appear at the eleventh hour to offer one final challenge before the credits roll, FromSoftware has attempted a similar concept in each game that has come after. This is done in a minor way with Dark Souls 3's Soul of Cinder, whose second phase surprisingly regrows its health bar before becoming a strong recreation of Dark Souls' Gwyn. However, the biggest surprises come from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with Isshin Ashina, and more recently with the Elden Beast in Elden Ring.
The specific place where Bloodborne manages to succeed beyond these later attempts at the same surprise boss is how the Moon Presence pairs perfectly with Gehrman. Since both are separated, with a checkpoint between the two, each is able to shine on its own, even allowing Gehrman to act as a possible final boss on his own. In this way, Moon Presence mirrors Elden Beast and Isshin, without being weighed down by having a second boss tethered to them.
Bloodborne is available now for PS4.
